"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Charles Baudelaire
The Usual Suspects is one of my favourite suspense films. It's one of those movies you wish you could watch for the first time over and over, not knowing until the end...what the end is. I won't divulge any details in order than anyone who has not seen it might still be caught up. I will however say that it does a wonderful job of combining flash backs with police interviews to keep you confused while always filling you in at the same time. And the character's are wonderful. Pre-Bio-Dome Stephen Baldwin, with his piercing blue eyes and totally mad smirk is delightfully dangerous. Benicio Del Toro as a swaggeringly tough, yet weirdly distant and feminine mexican. Gabriel Byrne as the bad cop gone-straight-gone-bad is cool and calculating and trying to regain control of his destiny. Kevin Spacey as the bright gimp. and that other guy.
All these guys end up in the same jail cell in a shake down and end up doing a job together which gets them way over their heads, and over the viewer's head as well. There's enough mystery to draw you in, enough action to keep you sharp - though not so much to be mind numbing , and enough tension between the characters and the situations they find themselves in to keep you hooked till the end.
Some gratuitous over-swearing aside, a totally solid film well worth watching.
One final little aside: Peter Greene is super awesome and totally underrated. He was the bad guy in The Mask and the twisted cop Zed in Pulp Fiction. He has a small role in this film but he just makes every scene he's in. Apparently he improvised the scene where he flicked his cigarette into Baldwin's face in The Usual Suspects. That's just awesome.
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